


Until the Morning Comes

by tsurai



Series: MCU tumblr prompts [6]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Civil War Team Iron Man, M/M, Not Beta Read, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Pre-Slash, Rating May Change, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-19 00:14:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29498628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsurai/pseuds/tsurai
Summary: Bucky finds out Wanda volunteered for HYDRA. His confrontation with Steve over it doesn’t go well, leaving him with one person he can turn to for shelter.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Series: MCU tumblr prompts [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2132658
Comments: 33
Kudos: 355





	Until the Morning Comes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nezstorm](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nezstorm/gifts).



> For the prompt: “Stay there. I’m coming to get you.”  
> Title from "Shelter" by Broken Bells.

When Bucky comes back to himself, the Winter Soldier sinking under the surface again, it takes a long moment for the enormity of his memories to come back – and they do, slamming into him with the force of a truck. He slumps back against the brick of the warehouse, trying to let the patter of rain on the cheap roof above calm his suddenly racing heart. 

He thinks, a little wildly, that his Accords-assigned therapy team is going to have a field day with this – his time in Wakanda may have scrubbed him of the triggers, but the Soldier is too much a part of Bucky to be completely washed away. These days, it takes a hell of a lot of stress to bring the Soldier out. 

Bucky knows why his other half took over, why he ran, but not why the Soldier brought him from the Compound back to New York City – this’ll be the first place Steve thinks to look for him. 

That rules out Natasha, too. He can’t predict her on the best of days and the last thing he wants right now is her ratting him out to Steve. Even the prospect of it causes prickles of discomfort – the Winter Soldier rousing with a murmur from his hindbrain that pegs the Black Widow’s volatility as a threat. Bucky breathes through it, lets that protective rage wash through him before it flows out and away. 

He has options. He can go on the run again – not ideal, not with the life he’s been trying to build as a legal citizen and an Avenger. His other option is to get help – and Bucky needs help from someone he knows is going to stand up to Steve; someone he can count on to, if not side with Bucky, then to at least listen to what he has to say. 

The Soldier anticipated what he’d need. When he searches the pockets of his dirty jeans he comes up with a cheap, black flip phone and a handful of crumpled dollar bills. He can only hope the phone was purchased somewhere instead of pickpocketed, even if Bucky knows he had no cash on him before the Soldier fled the Compound. It’s a simple matter to dial in the number Bucky’d memorized, even if he never thought he’d put it to use. The line, slightly staticy with bad reception, only rings once before FRIDAY’s cool voice answers: 

“Dr. Anthony Stark’s private line. To whom am I speaking?” 

“Uh, this is Buck- James Barnes.” 

There’s a pause, then the line clicks and just like that, Stark speaks.

“Barnes. You sound… cognizant.” 

_Shit._

“Steve already called you,” James realizes, heart sinking.

“Not so much, but FRIDAY is installed in the compound. I get alerts.” 

“Then you know why I had to leave.” That’s almost a relief – he won’t have to explain- 

“See, not so much. No microphones or cameras in the bedrooms, remember? Whatever you and Steve get up to is your business until someone gets put through a wall.” Stark’s tone is mild, but Bucky can hear the strain in it. 

“Yeah, not my finest moment,” Bucky tries for levity, but it falls flat. “Look, I- the news was talking about the anti-Avengers protestors and they mentioned Maximoff. That she- did you know? That she was HYDRA?”

There’s silence from the other end, then a crackling over the line as Stark swears viciously for a long moment, then sighs. 

“I’m sorry, Barnes. I’d have told you if I thought for a second you didn’t know,” the man promises, sounding grim. Bucky feels something in the pit of his stomach unwind, startled to recognize relief – relief that at least one person in his life wasn’t purposely keeping him in the dark. He and Stark have only spoken a few times since they apologized to each other, but Bucky can admit to himself their sparse interactions have mostly been due to him avoiding Stark, still feeling awkward. He can’t afford to feel awkward now, has to move forward. 

Move on from Steve’s automatic defense of Maximoff, the claim that she’d been a kid who didn’t know what she’d been getting into. He’d felt the anger rising, and when Bucky made to leave before he lost his temper, Steve reached out to stop Bucky.

The Soldier was the one who turned to meet him.

“Are you still there, snowflake?” Stark asks, and Bucky realizes he’s been silent too long. 

Bucky laughs at the question and the nickname both, and it’s too bitter with recent memories, but he can’t help it. 

“Yeah, still here. I just- it was too much to hope, wasn’t it. That there wasn’t one more thing Steve was keeping to himself.”  
Stark snorts, tone wry, “Well, now we both know how that goes.” 

Such a blunt comparison should sting, but instead it emboldens him enough to blurt: 

“You don’t owe me anything, but I have a favor to ask.”

A pause, and even over the crappy connection he can hear the deep breath Stark takes. 

“Ask.” 

Bucky lets out a breath. “I need somewhere to hunker down a few days. It doesn’t need to be the Tower, just, if you could get me some breathing room…” he starts, but Stark interrupts.

“The Tower? Barnes, are you in the city right now?”

“...Yeah, yeah I am,” he admits. 

“You know what, I don’t want to know. Do you need- of course you do. I’m having FRIDAY triangulate your location. Stay there, I’m coming to get you.”

That makes Bucky sit up ramrod straight, mind skipping right over the _why_ and _you don’t need to_ that would be his automatic response in any other situation.

“You flying around the warehouse district is going to attract attention,” he protests – every sighting of Iron Man eventually makes it to social media, and Natasha will be quick to pick up the trail of any unusual activity.

“Good thing I was planning to send a car then. No armor to sweep you off your feet this time,” Stark replies, and Bucky finds his mouth pulling into a smile against his will, unable to decide if the reference to their fight is in bad taste or not. 

“Okay,” he agrees, to both the car and the unspoken offer of help. Tension he’s been holding in his back finally unknots and Bucky climbs to his feet, metal hand against the brick to steady himself. “I’ll wait for you.”

* * *

When he steps outside the warehouse to find a sleek black car idling in the rain, he only hesitates a moment before one of its tinted windows rolls down and he’s treated to Stark’s raised eyebrows. 

“Don’t just stand there getting soaked, Winter Wonder. Happy packed towels just for you.” 

The words are enough to jolt him forward, and Bucky opens the door and slides into the seat before his hesitation gets the better of him. He nods to the driver – the vaguely-familiar Happy looks surprised but nods back – and the Soldier in the back of his head takes in the man’s broad shoulders and the holster beneath his suit jacket and dismisses him as a threat in a single glance. Stark, on the other hand, stares at him for a long moment before he turns, gesturing Happy to drive. Somehow, he’s not a threat either, and Bucky finds himself relaxing back into the seat. 

The car is warm where the warehouse and outside are cold, and as good as his new arm is at not leeching heat and the serum never lets him be affected by the weather, he still prefers the warmth. Warmth is not the bunkers and labs and the Chair – warmth is the Wakandan sun on his face after the triggers are removed, the blankets of his bed in the Compound, Steve’s hand on his shoulder- 

Bucky shudders, and Stark must take that as a shiver because the man drops a large red and gold towel in his lap. 

“At least take care of your hair, you’re dripping on the upholstery,” Stark says, and when Bucky turns to look at him Stark has already turned back to his phone. 

“Thanks,” Bucky croaks, clearing his throat when that gets the man to meet his eyes. “For all this, I mean. I don’t want to be any trouble.”

Stark sighs and massages his brow, but shuts off his phone. “You’re not the trouble, Steve is. No one realized you didn’t know about Wanda.”  
“I’m… not going to be taken off the team?” As far as he figures, throwing a teammate through a wall is probably an infraction of the rules of the Compound, if not his actual pardon. Hope is a weak thing when it blooms in his chest, and it wilts a little when Stark fixes him with an incredulous look. 

“You want to stay on his team?” To his credit, at least Stark’s tone is neutral, and that’s enough to make Bucky pause instead of giving voice to the automatic ‘of course!’ sitting on his tongue. 

The Accords Council allowed the rogues back with a full pardon in order to fight Thanos, but their pardons’ conditions placed their team under Carol Danvers’ command. Bucky hasn’t had any issues with Captain Marvel, but the Scarlet Witch is one of the heavy hitters on her team. Bucky won’t – _can’t_ – work with someone who volunteered for the same organization that made him the Winter Soldier. He’ll never be able to trust her at his back again. 

Most of all, he doesn’t know if he can trust Steve; twice now he’s kept major secrets from the people he called his friends, and Bucky- Bucky remembers that Steve wasn’t always big on the whole truth, but he’d never lied to his friends, not before. 

He doesn’t feel like he even knows who Steve is anymore. 

“No,” Bucky finds himself saying. “I don’t think I want to.” 

Stark watches him, his gaze steady, almost reassuring. 

“I’ll make some calls in the morning then, see if we can’t swing a case for the Council. They’ll probably reassign you to Rhodey’s team.” 

The same team Stark himself works on. 

“Wait, in the morning?” The city is bright with lights under a black sky when he looks out the window, and Bucky suddenly realizes he has no idea what time it is.

“It’s around 3 a.m.,” Stark says before Bucky can pull his flip phone out to check. He holds up a hand when Bucky opens his mouth to apologize. “Don’t. I was awake and in my lab anyway, against FRIDAY’s advisement,” he adds with a quirk to his lips. 

The phone in the man’s hand lights up.

“You have a meeting with the board in six hours, boss. I just suggested that more sleep might make it easier to deal with them.” It’s the most Bucky’s ever heard the AI say in one go – and he’s never heard that playful, chiding tone either – he wonders if it’s reserved for her creator. 

Stark only shrugs. 

“With enough coffee I can run circles around them. And Happy is used to my weird requests at this stage.” There is a grumble from up front but their driver doesn’t otherwise protest. “Anyway, not the point! Don’t you worry, Barnes, we’ll get you squared away at the Tower until things are ironed out. Sound good?”

“Call me Bucky,” he says, instead of an affirmative, or a thank you, or any of the million better options that could come out of his mouth. Stark blinks, any surprise quickly wiped away by a small smile, more genuine than anything Bucky’s seen on the news or tabloid covers. 

“Well Bucky, I guess you can call me Tony,” he says, and offers a hand – his left, so when Bucky reaches out in return he has to shake it with his metal hand. Stark’s, no, Tony’s hand is warm and firm as it grips back unhesitatingly. They shake, then part, and Bucky finds himself missing the contact instantly. 

Nevertheless, it feels like a step in the right direction – towards safety – and that’s all Bucky can really ask for at the moment. 

**Author's Note:**

> I may continue this based on people's interest and my inspiration. Let me know in the comments


End file.
